


He Worked Himself To The Bone

by alltheglowingeyes



Series: PJO/HoO/ToA One Shots [31]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Minor Injuries, will solace doesnt know self care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26900893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alltheglowingeyes/pseuds/alltheglowingeyes
Summary: Will never really understood how to take care of himself. At least his friends are here to keep him from slipping away.
Relationships: Cecil Markowitz & Will Solace, Kayla Knowles & Austin Lake & Will Solace, Lou Ellen Blackstone & Will Solace, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: PJO/HoO/ToA One Shots [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861492
Comments: 17
Kudos: 143





	He Worked Himself To The Bone

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from NaoSa on fanfiction.net:  
> “maybe if Will was the one who got injured?”
> 
> Thank you for the prompt! This took me a bit to write; although I have no idea why honestly. But I had a day off from school so I sat down and just started writing haha.
> 
> Enjoy! :)
> 
> \- alltheglowingeyes

Will was having a bad day.

There had been an attack at the border of Camp. Three new demigods ( _ one a daughter of Athena and the other two yet to be claimed _ ) and their protector were chased by a rare flock of stymphalian birds. When one of the unclaimed campers made it past the border, sobbing about the others being cornered, the veteran demigods jumped in. Will had followed the others once he heard that the daughter of Athena was unable to walk, medic bag in hand.

The group of demigods did a job well-done at splitting up and covering the new demigods and their protector’s safe entrance into Camp. Kayla and Sherman led the best archers from Ares and Apollo to shoot the birds, while Austin and Lou Ellen used a combination of disorienting music and mist manipulation to confuse the birds. Nico managed to move the uninjured demigod and the satyr with shadow-travel, but the daughter of Athena was too sick to go along. 

As Nico brought the other two into Camp, Will had rushed to the girl’s side and got to work. She had a deep, infected cut on the back of her leg, something no one seemed to have noticed at first. It was going well as he managed to at least bandage the cut and give her some ambrosia to halt the infection’s spread when he felt a sharp pain on his side.

He blinked, confused as he looked at the source of pain. A metal feather had flown by him, scraping the right side of his torso. Before he could register any concern, however, Nico came back, shadow-traveling Will and his patient into Camp.

When they landed back in the infirmary, Cecil took the girl from Will’s arms, moving her to a nearby cot. He got ready to work when Nico grabbed his arm, eyes flickering to his bleeding side.

Will understood shooting his boyfriend a quick smile. “It’s fine, Death Boy. Just got nicked by a stupid feather.”

Nico hesitated, looking unconvinced but relented as he got ready to go back and help the others. “Just make sure to clean it up, alright? And rest if it’s too bad.”

Will hummed in agreement, watching his boyfriend step back into the shadows. He knew that he should’ve listened to Nico, especially after checking and realizing that it was more than a little nick ( _ he was pretty sure he could paint the entire of New York with the blood coming from the cut _ ). However, looking at the jam-packed infirmary, he decided he could wait for a little bit.

Three hours later, Will's side was on fire. He felt sick as he finished setting Miranda’s arm, robotically moving to his next patient.

He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, forcing himself not to fall into the support given by that hand.

“Will, you look like shit. Mind taking a break?” Kayla asked, knitting her eyebrows as she scanned his face for signs of what was wrong.

Will grit his teeth, forcing himself to remain passive and calm. “I’m  _ fine _ , Kayla. I’ve got a few more patients to handle, then I’ll wrap things up for the day.”

Kayla didn’t look like she was taking his shit, but after a few seconds of tense silence, gave him a curt nod. “Fine. But if I catch you lurking around here once your patients are all set, you’re sleeping in the woods.”

Will pushed himself to smile at the threat, squinting at his sister. “Ah, you love me.”

“Debatable,” she grumbled, storming off to help Austin with a cranky Ellis Wakefield as he waved her down frantically. As soon as Kayla’s attention was fully absorbed with the son of Ares, he sighed, wincing at the strain of pain that followed.

_ Focus _ , he mentally chided himself as he made his way to one of the furthest the supply closet to grab some more nectar ( _ all the others had run out; Will sent another prayer to Hermes to hurry the fuck up with his deliveries _ ). As he picked up a full flask of the godly liquid, he felt the temptation arise to take a few sips, to numb the pain that was growing and branching out from the deep cut on his side. Will scowled at himself. There were more important patients who needed the materials; after all, with Olympus shut down the delivery schedules for godly supplies had gone to shit.

He turned around to exit the closet and return to his next patient ( _ Holly Victor - broken nose, busted lip, and one hell of a wounded pride _ ) but stopped as his world spun. His head felt light as his eyes tried to focus on the flask of nectar in his hands.

“ _ Fuck _ …” he mumbled to himself. Will felt his world spin once more before everything faded to black.

* * *

When he regained consciousness again, he was on his back, lying down on one of the infirmary cots. His vision was still dark and his head was heavy as he tried to let the feeling pass. After a few minutes, he felt well enough to try and sit himself up. However, after raising himself less than an inch, he heard a flurry of voices that he hadn’t noticed before reprimanding his decision.

“ _ William Andrew Solace _ . You try and move up one more fucking inch and I swear to the gods-”

“Kay, c’mon! Don’t yell at him.”

“I’m not yelling! I’m reminding him harshly. Because apparently that’s the only way-”

“Guys, c’mon, can we focus-”

“I’m with Kayla; dumbass wouldn't know self-preservation if it slapped him in the face.”

“Yeah, but yelling right now-”

“I’m not-”

“ _ SHUT UP _ ,” a voice cut in, crisp and loud. Everyone quieted down to look at the person who spoke, Will included.

Nico stood behind the crowding of demigods. He looked as he normally did, in his standard all-black get up and hair tousled in a  _ just-rolled-out-of-bed _ sort of way. However, as Will forced himself to look at Nico closer, he recognized the dark circles that had previously begun to dissipate under his eyes and the tension that had settled it’s way into his stance.

Nico stepped forward, shooting all of the other demigods stern looks ( _ Kayla, Austin, Lou Ellen, and Cecil; he wasn’t surprised that they were here _ ). “We yell later. I don’t know much about medical shit like you two,” he grumbled, gesturing to Kayla and Austin. “But I’m pretty sure that it’s not helping to raise our voices when he’s concussed or whatever.”

Will frowned, speaking up for the first time. “Concussed?” he mumbled, immediately registering how dry and scratchy his voice was. Cecil took note and grabbed an unopened water bottle from the stand next to him, extending the water to him. Will gratefully took it, chugging at least half of the bottle before closing it up and letting Cecil take it back.

Meanwhile, Kayla was glaring at him. It was then he registered just how red his half-sister’s eyes were, her gaze conveying anger and exhaustion.

“You’re lucky that’s what you’re walking away with. Just a nice scar and a mild concussion. Will, you almost  _ died _ , you dipshit! You- I can’t…”

She looked ready to flip Will’s cot over with Will in it ( _ he wouldn’t be surprised if she could _ ). Lou Ellen, on the opposite side to the daughter of Apollo, moved over to her.

“Let’s take a walk, Kayla,” the daughter of Hecate whispered, the neutral expression on her face making her seem uncharacteristically calm ( _ although the quick look she shot WIll clearly meant this conversation wasn’t over _ ). Kayla was still trembling with anger and sorrow, but nonetheless allowed Lou Ellen to lead her out. 

As soon as Kayla was out of the room, the other three demigods affixed their heavy gazes on Will. Will didn’t want to ask the question bubbling in his chest, a sick feeling in his stomach that he couldn’t tell the cause of. There was quiet silence for a minute or so before Austin spoke up.

“Do you need some medicine? Ambrosia or nectar? How do your head and side feel?”

On reflex, Will almost answered  _ fine _ . However, he noticed Austin’s gaze darken microscopically, as if saying  _ don’t you fucking dare _ . He swallowed, shrugging listlessly. “Um, my side feels ok, I guess. It’s a little sore but that’s fine. My head kind of hurts though.”

Austin nodded. “Right. Don’t push yourself; you need to rest your head and make sure to not strain your vision. I think we need to wait an hour or so before you have any more ambrosia so you don’t burn up.”

Will went for a nod, but then realized that probably wasn’t a good idea with a concussion. He shot his brother a half-hearted thumbs-up, feeling slight relief as the corners of Austin’s lips turned up. Austin then turned to Nico, catching sight of the boy’s intense focus on Will as he hummed.

“Cecil, come with me. I need to see if our cabin is still standing,” he muttered, gently squeezing Will’s shoulder before waving Cecil to follow him out of the infirmary. Cecil shot Will a quick but tired smile as Will was left alone with Nico.

There were a few seconds of silence as Will tried to think of what to say.

“Sorry if I scared you guys,” he finally settled on, feeling awkward. Nico didn’t respond at first, gaze now cast on the ground. Will opened his mouth to try for a different apology once again when Nico looked up, the look on his face breaking Will’s heart.

“They weren’t lying. You got pretty close to… Will, what were you thinking?” the son of Hades asked, his voice slightly hoarse. He looked so vulnerable and genuinely heartbroken.

Will worried his bottom lip, “I was just… I was going to deal with it. I just wanted to help everyone else and I didn’t realize how bad it was,” he glanced up at Nico again with guilt. “I really am sorry…”

Nico shook his head, settling on the edge of the cot as he locked eyes with Will. “You can’t keep doing this to yourself. You  _ literally _ almost worked yourself to death, Will. I don’t…” he took a deep breath. “I don't know what I’d do if you really didn’t come back to us.”

Will swallowed. He knew that Nico wasn’t the most emotionally forward; the fact that he was being so brutally honest with his thoughts was enough proof for Will to know that he meant it.

He didn’t apologize again; another apology would feel emptier than the last two. Nico didn’t press him for any more apologies or words, instead taking Will’s warm hands into his ice-cold ones. The two sat like this for a few minutes, Nico moving to sit closer to Will so the son of Apollo could lean his head on his shoulder.

By the time the other demigods crept back into the infirmary, Will had fallen asleep. Nico glanced at Will’s friend and siblings, motioning with his head for them to sit with him. The five demigods encircled the boy, waiting in silence for him to wake up.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this was good! The ending was a little hard to write, as I didn’t really know how to end it and I didn’t want to keep rambling honestly haha. I kinda just... had him go to sleep (although when I had a concussion I couldn't do anything because focusing hurt so I spent most of my time sleeping; IG it might make sense then to have him go back to sleep???).
> 
> Anyhoo, I’m going to go work on my Trig HW that’s crying out to me lmaoooo.
> 
> Leave any requests/headcanons, if you want!
> 
> You can follow me on my tumblr @alltheglowingeyess for updates on multichapter fics/a compiled list of my one-shots/random Riordanverse shit, or to just say hi. :)


End file.
